U.S. Leads Israeli, Palestinian Peace Talks!

VP Biden Arrives In Jerusalem!

Last Updated: Tuesday, March 9, 2010 | 5:39 AM ET The Associated Press

Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, talks with U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden during their meeting at Peres's residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday. (Yin Bogu, Pool/Associated Press)

Israelis and Palestinians face a "moment of real opportunity" to make peace after agreeing to resume American-brokered talks, U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden said Tuesday as he launched the highest-level visit by an Obama administration official to Israel.

The indirect talks break a 14-month deadlock and mark President Barack Obama's first substantive diplomatic achievement in the region.

"I think we are at a moment of real opportunity, and I think that the interests of the Israeli and Palestinian people, if everybody stops and takes a deep breath, are actually more in line than they are opposites," Biden said ahead of a meeting with Israel's president, Shimon Peres.

Biden said he hoped the beginning of indirect talks would be "a vehicle by which we can begin to allay that layer of mistrust that has built up in the last several years."

Israelis wary of Obama

But the new peace push is sure to face enormous challenges, including sharp divisions among the Palestinians and a hardline Israeli government seen as unlikely to make wide-ranging concessions.

Polls show that Israelis have come to see Obama as less friendly to Israel than previous presidents. Biden's visit seemed aimed at least in part at assuaging some of those concerns, both among Israelis and their American supporters, whose backing is seen as crucial ahead of next November's congressional elections.

The vice-president also offered assurances that the U.S. remained committed to Israel's well-being, saying there was "absolutely no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security, none at all."

Israel has been pushing for stricter international sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program, and has refused to rule out a military strike if sanctions fail.

Iran was likely to loom large in Biden's discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Tuesday.

Biden also was slated to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday before traveling to Jordan on Thursday.

© The Canadian Press, 2010